AJ Davis 11:40
Yeah. A bunch? I’m sure. I hope so. That’s the whole point. Yeah, I think that there’s there were some challenges in hiring where we didn’t have our own kind of culture established. So it wasn’t clear to look for certain things. So things like curiosity really was something that came up kind of later into the journey of the company in hiring. And it’s something that we love, like set up parts of the interview process to capture and reflect back on that. Another way we’ve kind of solved that as more people on the team are involved with it. So I still love to talk to everyone and do the introduction interview. But I then kind of delegate to go back to earlier in the conversation, those deeper dives into assessing like cultural fit and to assessing skill fit and all those different components. So sometimes it’s just like, Okay, we learned that this person has the skills, but they didn’t have the motivation or the ability to work in the way that we work. So those kinds of things. Yeah, I think that’s present in every aspect of the business.
Chad Franzen 12:40
You know, if I were starting a business, I might not even be thinking about, Oh, what do I want my culture to be? How long before you realize, oh, we’re, you know, we need to find my culture, maybe core values or something like that?
AJ Davis 12:50
Yeah, great question. I think it was about a year and a half in started working with a business coach. And that was the first question she asked. So fortunate that I had somebody who had that experience to say, well, you will have to think about this stuff. Because that is the anchor of your mission. And that’s the anchor to your brand. That’s an anchor to your marketing and all the things you do. And so I think it wasn’t something that was really on my radar. I found it to be useful, just for me personally, to think about what are my own values. What are the company values? Where are those intersecting? Where are they different? I think that’s something I see a lot of entrepreneurs struggle with, is thinking those two things need to be the same that you are the company in the company you know, and that ability for her to call that out into start pulling apart where my identity was and where the company is. There are still overlaps because I’m trying to build the culture. But having the team reflect on the values, is this still true for all of us, getting feedback from our team has been a way to keep those alive and keep that really present and the work we’re doing.
Chad Franzen 13:55
Would you say that now, now that you have an established culture? That you’re kind of everything is kind of elevated? You’re on with it? Performance, revenue, everything?
AJ Davis 14:06
Sure. I think it’s always I mean, everything. I think my whole life philosophy is everything’s iterative. There’s never like a check mark, and that thing is done. So we have quarterly town halls and part of that exercise of getting together and talking about what’s working and what’s not, is talking about our values and asking, Are these still the right ones? Is it reflecting and all the things we’re doing? Where are there places we can lean into these more? So yes, like every single time we do that, it’s surplus is something else that helps grow in all those ways. You mentioned.
Chad Franzen 14:40
I have one more question for you. But first, how can people find out more about Experiments Zone?
AJ Davis 14:46
Experimentzone.com The place to find us I also am open just to connect to anyone via LinkedIn. I believe wholeheartedly that you can give 15 minutes of your time to anybody and hopefully give them some advice or help them solve a problem they’re working towards. And so, I would invite any of your listeners to reach out to me that way and connect. And hopefully, we can find a way to help each other very small or potentially do some work together.
Chad Franzen 15:11
So, last question, I’m sure I’m sure you have a lot of great advice to give; what is some great advice you have received, and maybe it wasn’t from a mentor or somebody else?
AJ Davis 15:21
I think the one I keep coming back to, has to do a little bit with branding. But it also just has to do with the clarity of goals. And so the advice was, if you are going car shopping, you need to know the kind of car you want. And so, if you just say to the world, I’m looking for a car, people will say, Oh, great, I also have a car, right? It will just sort of stop there. And then as you start to get more specific, oh, I want a convertible. Oh, I know of someone who has a convertible; I really want this type of convertible this year; this thing, you start to not only be able to talk to people about what you’re looking for, or how they might be able to help you. But you’re gonna start seeing those cars drive by on the road, nd you’re gonna start like going, Oh, that is the one I want and feeling more confident and more confident about what you’re doing. And I think that analogy holds in almost everything we do in business, the more specific we can be about who we want to work with and the kinds of problems we want to work with, the better we’re going to be for ourselves and our own clarity, but every other person that interacts with us.
Chad Franzen 16:20
Very nice, great advice. Hey, AJ has been great to talk to you, and great to hear about Experiments Zone. Thank you so much for your time today.
AJ Davis 16:26
Hey, thanks for your time. This is great.
Chad Franzen 16:27
So Well, everybody.
Outro 16:29
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